Springsteen's "Backstreets": intro with piano sheet music

Inspired by shawncheekeasy's piano lesson, I have attempted to write out the entire intro of Bruce Springsteen's "Backstreets", all its glorious 52 (or 26) bars, and this is the result. What you hear is a midi of the sheet music, produced by my music notation software. Suggestions, of any kind, are more than welcome. I am particularly uncertain about the part over the C chord just before it goes back to G-Em for the last time.

NB: I know the left hand is pretty fast: simply playing the notes twice as long will make it much easier to play.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sheet
• music
• notation
• piano
• bruce
• springsteen
• backstreets
• born
• to
• run
• play
• lesson
• rock
• intro

[bookmaster89]

There's no F chord before it goes back into G-Em. I think it's just C

[kanij87]

@bookmaster89 I think you're probably right - see if I can fix it. Also, the part over C should probably e an octave or so higher.

[kanij87]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I might work on that, but I think he's using some kind of echo effect on the recording, which makes it difficult to identify all the lower notes.

[CPSJSMSUUMUGA]

Writing in Rolling Stone in 1975, Greil Marcus, in his review of "Born to Run," said after quoting the cirst lines of Backstreets,

"Those are a few lines from "Backstreets," a song that begins with music so stately, so heartbreaking, that it might be the prelude to a rock & roll version of The Iliad."

Indeed. After that intro you expect nothing less than epic magnificence, and Bruce delivers. Backstreets is one of Rock's greatest songs.

[snl330]

At 0:42 I think the note progression is C-B-D instead of C-B-G.

[RubySerendipity]

That intro is incredible.

[manni62]

great job. thanks for transcribing this. Shawn Cheek too. And the corrections you guys picked up..all good..all good!

[astarita]

Hi kanij, Nice Job! a little different from my own. Ya see, I started transcribing it for a student of mine by hand so I have more then what you have here and I can only imagine, as do you, yet it is on manuscript paper. I was wondering if you would be kind enough send me the midi file so that is I could open it up in my notation software add my edits and send it back to you, and see what you think.

[nittyranks]

Try to arpegiate the left hand more. It sounds a little too sharp.